P5 Plus vs R6C, which one to get?

[donaldcason]

Heya, I'd like to have recommendations on what I should get as a Mini Pc/openvpn server/nextcloud server/nas. And I feel like these two SBC are very similar and I'd to have other people opinions on the matter thank you! slope game

[bekean23]

If you're looking for ease of setup and long-term performance, an x86 Mini PC (like an N100-based one) is often the best choice over SBCs. But if power efficiency is a priority, an SBC like the Rock 5B or Odroid HC4 would work well.
subway surfers

[specs]

I had a discussion earlier with a person who bought a prebuild NAS, allowing for 2 NVME's and SATA drives's. In my opinion it is simply ludicrous: either choose NVME or SATA and be done with it, both have strong points and weak points. But I disgress.

What are you looking for in a NAS?
Just putting in some M.2 to multiple SATA adapter?
Or do you want a simple 'NAS' with a single (large) NVME?

What speed do you need?
What do you find important besides speed?

First: the P5 Plus is an RK3588 which should be compared to a NanoPC T6 (LTS or the regular one) and the Rock5B (or B+).
They have many connections, among others PCIE3x4 (2x PCIE3x2 for the B+). Some allow to choose a Wifi adapter. The P5 would never make my list since it uses a 5V/5A power connection.
I have a Rock5B and a NanoPC T6 LTS and technically they are almost equal. The one uses USB-PD for power, the other 12V but the difference I see is the cases, the T6 can be bought as a ready product (I use an intel ax210 with it).

The NanoPi R6C and M6 are RK3588s systems, using USB-PD (although different from the Rock5B) and PCIE2x1 for NVME. The R6c has 2x etherenet (1Gbps + 2.5Gbps), the M6 has one USB2 extra and Wifi (M.2) and a 1Gbps ethernet adapter.

For powerfull I do like the T6. For low power the M6/R6 will be better (combined with M.2 I'v seen some idle consumption of 4,5W for the T6/5B vs 2,5W for the M6/R6, noted with similar use and a close distance AP, since Wifi consumption can increase with distance and obstructions.)

5 systems of which the RK3588 systems seem similar, but "you get what you pay for". With the RK3588s there is much difference in choices manufacturers made. I think FriendlyElec has some nice offers with the R6/M6. In my opinion OrangePi copied the worst elements from the Raspberry Pi 5 for a cheap price. Radxa offers some nice products, but also trash comparable with OrangePi.

The comparison with the Odroid H4 and N100 machines seems more valid more for systems like the CM3588 and the Rock5 ITX.